Letters: Khadr payout will live in infamy

Former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Omar Khadr, 30, is seen in Mississauga, Ont., on Thursday, July 6, 2017. The federal government has paid Khadr $10.5 million and apologized to him for violating his rights during his long ordeal after capture by American forces in Afghanistan in July 2002. Colin Perkel / THE CANADIAN PRESS

The decision by Justin Trudeau’s government to make terrorist Omar Khadr rich with a $10.5 million settlement and to give an official apology to Khadr, who murdered American soldier U.S. Sgt. First Class Christopher Speer in cold blood and left a grieving wife a widow with two children, is as wrong as it gets and millions of Canadians will surely remember this outrage come election time in 2019. This is nothing less than a slap in the face for not only the grieving widow and family of the murdered soldier but also the Canadian and American military and all freedom loving Canadians and Americans alike.

Conservative leader Andrew Scheer was quick to speak for the majority of Canadians in condemning this outrage. It should be noted that this blood money will be shared with already rich lawyers and not a penny will go to Christopher Speer’s wife.

Trudeau’s broken promises and the accumulation of scandals in such a short time should be costly for the Liberals in the next election. Mounting deficits, lack of transparency, failure to cut taxes for small business and no plan to balance the federal budget have put the lie to the empty promises of a prime minister who once said budgets balance themselves.

Gerald Hall, Nanoose Bay

Gender matters in Research Chair appointments

Re: Canada Research chair positions should be based on merit not gender, Opinion, July 6

Why should we care about the gender of Canada Research chairs? To adapt a line – because it’s 2017.

Far from being a country of equal opportunity as Tara Nykyforiak claims, Canadian women are still underrepresented and under-promoted in STEM careers in particular, and in our workplaces in general.

Working against women are unconscious biases. These biases affect every stage of women’s careers, from which industries they pursue to how their performances are evaluated.

UBC recently reported that 51 per cent of their PhD graduates who work in academia are women, yet the Canada Research Chairs program shows only 30 per cent of women are nominated to the program – evidence of the systemic biases that need to be addressed in order to advance women and other underrepresented groups.

Science Minister Kirsty Duncan’s recent efforts to combat institutional sexism is an important step in raising awareness about this issue; however we believe there is still more to be done by our government and universities. The real change will come by investing more resources to reengineer processes and leverage technology to counter these biases.

Wyle Baoween, CEO and co-founder, HRx Technology

Heart and Stroke supports gender equity

Enhancing equity and allocating merit-based research funding are not mutually exclusive. Yes, merit is essential, and we must work to ensure women scientists are afforded opportunities to succeed.

While as a country we embrace equality of opportunity, it is not yet the reality. Gender barriers exist. There is progress: More girls are enrolling in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) disciplines. But once they reach the assistant professor stage of their careers, many do not progress.

The Naylor Report notes we handcuff ourselves if our research funding ecosystem fails to capitalize on the talents and perspectives of large segments of our population. Equitable representation of women among research chairs is an important step in this direction.

Equity can be advanced through mentoring, capacity building and engaging and supporting women in science at all stages of their schooling and careers, so they have the same opportunities to progress to the most senior levels.

All of us in the research and academic communities share a responsibility to ensure that promising scientists of all genders have equal opportunities to enrich our world through discovery and innovation.

Adrienne Bakker, CEO, BC & Yukon, Heart & Stroke

Short-term rental rules a form of expropriation

Re: Vancouver proposes new rules to curb short-term rentals, July 6

It is interesting to think about the proposed rules against short-term rentals in secondary properties in the context of expropriation. Under this view, the City of Vancouver is taking the interest of all property owners who do not wish to devote use of their property to long-term tenants as well as the interest of all short-term tenants who will now be required to find other accommodation.

These seizures amount to a significant transfer of wealth from property owners and their tenants to long-term tenants (of whatever economic class) and other providers of short-term accommodation, all without compensation. One wonders whether the rents to be charged to long-term tenants will reflect this loss. And with less competition, “approved” providers of short-term accommodation will be able to increase prices. Lastly, as a society we already have plenty of rules. Adults who enter into voluntary agreements do not need any more “we know better” restrictions from temporary politicians.

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